TORAH READING FOR 4 ADAR I 5782 SHMITAH Feb 4-5, 2022
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, AND SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
Mazal Tov – Mazal Bueno to all those celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or significant event during the Month of February. If we were together at Temple Kol Hamidbar, we would extend a Tallit over you, say a special prayer for you, and recite the following blessing (cf Num. 6:24-26):
- May the Eternal One bless you and protect you!
- May the Eternal One deal kindly and graciously with you!
- May the Eternal One bestow favor upon you and grant you peace!
KËIN YEHI RATZON (Let it be so!)
FEBRUARY IS JEWISH DISABILITY AWARENESS MONTH
Established in 2009, led by the Jewish Federations of North America, and observed every February, it is a worldwide effort among Jewish organizations to collaborate and raise awareness to inform, break down barriers and advance policies that empower people with disabilities and foster inclusion in our national and local Jewish community.
PARSHA
From Reform Judaism https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/trumah
T’rumah (תְּרוּמָה — Gifts) – Exodus 25:1−27:19
The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: “Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved.” – Exodus 25:1-2
SUMMARY:
- God asks the Children of Israel to donate gifts (t’rumah) for the building of the Tabernacle so that God may “dwell among them.” (25:1-9)
- Instructions for the construction of the Ark, table, and menorah are provided. (25:10-40)
- Detailed directions are given on how to build the Tabernacle. (26:1-27:19)
HAFTARAH
I Kings 5:26-6:13
From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terumah_(parashah)
Connection to the Parashah
Both the parashah and the haftarah describe a great Jewish leader’s marshalling of resources to build a dwelling place for God, the parashah in Moses’ collection of gifts to build the Tabernacle, and the haftarah in Solomon’s conscription of labor and collection of timber and stone to build the Temple in Jerusalem. Both the parashah and the haftarah describe conditions for a structure where God could dwell (ve-shakhanti) among (be-tokh) the Israelites.
STRUGGLING WITH TORAH
From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terumah_(parashah)
Terumah (תְּרוּמָה — Hebrew for “gift” or “offering”) – Exodus 25:1–27:19
The parashah tells of God’s instructions to make the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
In Modern Interpretation
Professor Robert Alter of the University of California, Berkeley, reported the strong scholarly consensus that Exodus 25–27 is the work of the Priestly source (P), reflecting P’s special fascination with the details of cultic paraphernalia…. [T]he Divinely-endorsed donations contrast with the transgressive donations that enable the Golden Calf in Exodus 32.
[Rabbi Jeffrey H. Tigay, Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania,] reported that scholars debate whether the Tabernacle actually existed. Some believe that Exodus 25–27 describes some form of the First Temple in Jerusalem, historically retrojected into the period of the wanderings to give it legitimacy….
From Reform Judaism https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/trumah
Building with God in the Wilderness: A Theology of Just and Loving Communities
From the D’var Torah By: Rabbi Hilly Haber
In a path-breaking1993 work entitled Sisters in the Wilderness: the Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, Delores Williams sets forth a theology of the wilderness centered in the experiences of African American women. Building from the particular and speaking with universal resonance, Williams identifies a wilderness ethic grounded in the values of: survival, relationship and resilience. For Williams, the wilderness is a place of both struggle and possibility – a place in which Hagar, a slave cast out of her home, is rescued by God so that she can ultimately mother her own nation into being.
REFLECTION
From “The Torah / A Women’s Commentary” edited by Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, Ph.D.
תרומה T’rumah – Exodus 25:1-27:19
A Place for God: Instructions for Building the Tabernacle by Carol Meyers, pp.451-452
Although God is theoretically everywhere, the Israelites needed assurance of God’s constant accessibility and availability. They accomplished this–as did the other peoples of the ancient Near East–by constructing an earthly residence for God, one that would mirror the heavenly prototype in which God was presumed to dwell. With God in their midst in an earthly shrine, God’s power to protect the people and provide for their well-being would be guaranteed. Beginning with parashat T’rumah (“gifts”), virtually all of the rest of Exodus focuses on the portable shrine known variously as the Tabernacle (Mishkan) or Tent of Meeting (Ohel Mo’ed). Even though some of its structure and objects are reflected in today’s synagogue furnishings, the Tabernacle should not be compared to a synagogue. It was not a house of worship; and it was off limits to all but the upper echelons of the priesthood. Instead of being a place of communal worship, it was conceived of as an elaborate and costly residence for the divine presence. The word Mishkan comes from the root meaning “to dwell” (sh-k-n), which gave rise also to the well-known term Shechinah (see at 25:8).
The wealth of seemingly exact details in the instructions for the Tabernacle belies the fact that such a structure probably never existed. The early Israelites may have had a relatively simple tent shrine–perhaps the Tent of Meeting–that was later incorporated into the Jerusalem Temple during the monarchy. Memories of the original shrine likely were expanded as the Exodus Tabernacle account took shape centuries later, influenced by knowledge of the First and Second Temples. This is a highly constructed account, and very little of it seems to be historical.
The Tabernacle texts in Exodus–much like the sacred building texts of other ancient peoples–begin with elaborate instructions for making the Mishkan, its furnishings, and the priestly vestments (Exodus 25-31); some Bible scholars call these instructions the prescriptive Tabernacle texts. Much of this information is repeated in another lengthy section relating how the instructions were implemented (Exodus 35-40); its passages are called the descriptive Tabernacle texts. The Golden Calf episode (Exodus 32-34) separates these two pieces. It is helpful to remember that behind the mass of arcane details lies a yearning for God’s presence and an attempt to establish a relationship between divine immanence and transcendence, in other words, between God’s abilities to be “right here” and “everywhere” at the same time.
Aside from God and Moses, the only other actors in this parashah are the “people” who collectively provide the building materials. While women are not explicitly mentioned in this Torah portion, parashat Vayak’heil [three portions after parashat T’rumah] specifies that both women and men donated their possessions for the construction of the Mishkan (35:22, 29; 36:6) and that women were involved in producing textiles (35:25-26) and performing tasks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting (38:8). Such passages challenge the popular impression that this holy edifice is the result of exclusively male efforts.
PRAYERS
From “Mishkan T’filah / A Reform Siddur”:
FOR OUR COUNTRY p.516
THUS SAYS ADONAI, This is what I desire: to unlock the fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of lawlessness; to let the oppressed go free, to break off every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry, and take the wretched poor into your home. When you see the naked, give clothing, and do not ignore your own kin.
O GUARDIAN of life and liberty, may our nation always merit Your protection. Teach us to give thanks for what we have by sharing it with those who are in need. Keep our eyes open to the wonders of creation, and alert to the care of the earth. May we never be lazy in the work of peace; may we honor those who have [served, suffered or] died in defense of our ideals. Grant our leaders wisdom and forbearance. May they govern with justice and compassion. Help us all to appreciate one another, and to respect the many ways that we may serve You. May our homes be safe from affliction and strife, and our country be sound in body and spirit. Amen.
FOR HEALING
We recite MI SHEBËRACH for the victims of abuse, brutality, conflicts, fear, natural disasters, pandemics, tragedies, violence of all kinds especially directed at individuals and specific communities including us, and war; for all those at home alone or lonely; for all those in need of physical, emotional, and mental healing. “R’fuah sh’lëmah” – a complete recovery!
YAHRZEITS/ANYOS
We say KADDISH YATOM for those of our friends and families who have died and been buried this last week; those in the period of Sh’loshim (30 days since burial); those who have died in the last year; and those whose Yahrzeits/Anyos occur at this time; as well as the victims of brutality, conflict, disease, natural disasters, pandemics, tragedies, violence of all kinds, and war.
This coming week, 3 Adar I through 10 Adar I, we lovingly remember:
Jacob Joseph
Holocaust Survivor, relative of TKH Member Ruben Gomez
Yosef ben Efraim
Father of TKH Member Ruben Gomez
Those victims of the Sho’ah (Holocaust) who died at this time of year.
“ZICHRONAM LIV’RACHAH” – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE FOR BLESSING.
TORAH STUDY AND SHAZOOM
We will meet as usual at the regular times for Torah Study and Shazoom this evening, Friday, February 4, 2022.
Zoom regularly updates its security and performance features. Making sure you have the latest version of Zoom, please join us online this Friday evening with wine/grape juice for Kiddush and Challah for Motzi.
Topic: Torah Study – Terumah (triennial part) Ex 26:31-27:19
Time: Feb 4, 2022 06:00 PM Arizona
and/or
Shazoom – Erev Shabbat Service
Time: Feb 4, 2022 07:30 PM Arizona
To join Torah Study and/or Shazoom click on the following link [you may need to copy it into your browser]: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/72510500854?pwd=Z3VQZWF4U1BBZytNYmh3aHFTWkFDZz09
Meeting ID: 725 1050 0854
Passcode: 4NrMk0
Hint: The last character of the password is the number zero.
Shabbat Shalom – Buen Shabbat!
-Ruben